Scotland's Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and the Environment called for widespread support of the dairy industry.

I am calling on retailers and other buyers to get behind the dairy sector in this time of need and to pay a fair price for milk.

I fully recognise the difficulties being faced by dairy farmers because of the low price being paid for milk and volatility on the global market, and I have written to my UK counterparts calling for a joint ministerial meeting on this issue.

I am also happy to meet again with the dairy sector at any time and in any place during these very difficult times."

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Supermarkets must sell more British products that consumers want and stop scouring the world for the cheapest food they can find, the National Farmers' Union (NFU) demanded in the wake of the horsemeat scandal.

NFU president Peter Kendall said there was "real shock" that consumers have been deceived over what was actually in the meat they had bought.

Speaking at the NFU's annual conference today, Mr Kendall called on retailers to back British farmers and growers.

"We now need supermarkets to stop scouring the world for the cheapest products they can find and start sourcing high quality, traceable product from farmers here at home", he said, adding, "It's not as if it's nuts and bolts, pots and pans or mobile phones - this is our food".

Tesco has emailed its customers to announce its "new commitments" amid the horsemeat scandal.

The email from CEO Philip Clarke states, "Today I make you a promise. Tesco is going to bring the food we sell closer to home. We're going to make how we source our food simpler, more transparent and shorter, and we will build better relationships with our nation's farmers".

Mr Clarke announced all fresh chickens sold in Tesco will come from UK farms from July and that the retailer will move "over time" to ensure all its chicken products - fresh and frozen - will come from British suppliers.

"Everyone in the food industry has a big job ahead to win back your trust. But I am determined to lead the way, by changing the way Tesco sources food for the better", he states.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson told the National Farmers' Union's annual conference that food business operators need to "get out there and win back the confidence of their customers" following the horsemeat scandal.

Mr Paterson said it was the "primary responsibility" of these businesses to ensure food is of the right quality and correctly labelled before it is sold.

Welsh Bros Foods says it is 'deeply shocked' that a sample of its frozen minced beef has reportedly tested positive for horsemeat.

Welsh Bros Foods regrets to announce that late yesterday afternoon we were informed that a formal sample of our frozen free flow minced beef has been reported to have potentially tested positive for above 1% horse meat. We have not as yet had formal confirmation on this result; however, we have taken the decision to notify our customers of this issue immediately, and issue a withdraw notice for this product.

Welsh Bros Foods are deeply shocked by this development and are working with all relevant authorities.

– Welsh Bros Foods spokesperson

The firm said the affected batch was produced nearly three months ago and other samples have reportedly tested negative for horsemeat, adding: "We therefore believe at this stage that this is an isolated incident."

Pembrokeshire County Council has withdrawn mince from its menus after being told a batch of frozen minced beef has potentially tested positive for horsemeat.

The mince was supplied by Welsh Bros Foods of Newport, Gwent, and was used by the council for schools, day centres and residential homes.

The council says it has also been made aware that frozen beef products supplied to Sodexo – a company providing catering services to the authority's privately-financed initiative school in Pembroke Dock – has tested positive for horsemeat.

Sodexo has withdrawn all frozen beef products from its UK catering operations.